4 gig of ram with xp pro 32bit

[tremmor]

I have 4gig of ram but checked and im seeing something like 3.1 gig or so. someone blurted out that the 4 gig will be used but not seen. its not a big deal. i needed at least 2gig and maxed it out. would the statement above be true? it will be used.

 

[speedyink]

It's not gonna be used as system ram. Personally, I dont think it gets used at all, but I did have an untrustworthy computer guy tell me it gets used for video ram and crap like that, but I do know it's not getting used for programs and stuff.

 

[NaughtyMonkey]

Windows xp only recognizes about 3 gigs of ram, Some people have said 3.5 but usually its around 3. Vista will support all 4 gigs. Just pointing that out. So just put 3 gigs in your machine. That other gig would be a total waste.

 

[Cleric7x9]

Windows xp only recognizes about 3 gigs of ram, Some people have said 3.5 but usually its around 3. Vista will support all 4 gigs. Just pointing that out. So just put 3 gigs in your machine. That other gig would be a total waste.

no, that is false. there is no difference in how much RAM 32bit Vista will use and 32bit XP will use. SP1 in vista will make the OS tell you how much RAM is installed in the computer, but its really not using that much. i feel like this topic has been beaten to death, so if you use the search button you can find out a lot more.

any 32bit OS has the ability to address 4gb of memory, its math (2^32). it has to use some of the address space for other important memory addressing (video cards, hdd cache, etc). so, out of the 4gb max memory on a 32 bit OS, how much of it can be used for RAM depends on what else is installed on your computer.

 

[StrangleHold]

Like said SP1 for Vista does no more than let windows tell (you) how much Ram is installed, it still has the same limitation. 2000/XP and Vista 32bit has a 4gb limit but reserves some for hardware addresses so the useable amount is somewhat below 4gbs depending on your hardware.